Valve grinding tool



Gd. Q, 1956 HARMON 2,755,589

VALVE GRINDING TOOL Filed Jan. 51, 1955 INVENTOR Z.U Ha rmon ATTORNEY VALVE GRINDING TOOL Louis 0. Harmon, Amsterdam, N. Y.

Application January 31, 1955, Serial No. 484,918

7 Claims. (Cl. 129) This invention relates to a novel tool or implement for use in grinding engine valves and more specifically to a coupling unit for coupling the tool by suction to a valve head.

- Suction cups have been utilized in the past for coupling a grinding tool to a valve head but have not been successful due to the fact that the amount of pressure or thrust which must be applied to the tool to accomplish the grinding operation results in the suction cup being collapsed to such an extent that its vacuum is substantially eliminated and as a result, the suction cup slips relative to the valve head.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved suction type coupling unit to overcome this defect and through the use of which a strong vacuum pull will be maintained on the valve head irrespective of the amount of thrust or pressure exerted .by the tool against the head.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a pres- .ently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the tool;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view, partly in elevation, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 22 of Figure 1 and showing the tool in an applied position and Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the tool as seen in Figure 1.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the valve grinding tool in its entirety and comprising the invention is designated generally 5 and includes a shaft or stem 6, which may be of any desired length and only the lower portion of which has been illustrated, and a coupling unit, designated generally 7.

The coupling unit 7 includes a downwardly opening suction cup 8 having an integral neck portion 9 extending upwardly from a central part thereof. The upper end of the neck 9 merges integrally with a bottom half 10 of a casing 11 which includes an upper half 12, of substantially the same shape as said lower half 10. The casing halves 10 and 12 each correspond in shape to a suction cup and have faces 13 which are secured together in any suitable manner as by vulcanizing to form the chamber 14 of the casing 11. The neck 9 has a relatively large bore 15 extending longitudinally therethrough, the lower end of which opens into the suction cup 8 and the upper end of which opens into the bottom central portion of the chamber 14.

The upper casing half 12 has an integral upwardly extending centrally disposed neck 16 which is recessed to define an upwardly opening socket 17 which is preferably of noncircular cross section. The shaft or stem 6 has a noncircular lower end 18 which fits snugly and nonturnably in the socket 17 so that the coupling unit 7 will turn in unison with the shaft or stem 6. A solid portion 19, forming a part of the upper casing half 12,

is disposed between the inner end of the socket 17 and the chamber 14, so that said chamber opens only into the bore 15. The coupler parts 8, 9, 11 and 16 are formed of resilient rubber or a similar material corresponding to that used in conventional suction cups.

A sleeve 20 formed of metal fits snugly in the bore 15 and has an enlarged base 21 at its lower end which is disposed in the central portion of the cup 8. A pad 22, formed of rubber or other friction material, is secured to the underside of the base 21 and is normally disposed inwardly with respect to the plane of the annular face or bottom 23 of the suction cup 8, as illustrated in full lines in Figure 2. An expansion coiled spring 24 has a lower end seated against the upper side of the base 21. The spring 24 extends upwardly from the base 21 through the sleeve 20 and upwardly through the central portion of the chamber 14 and has an upper end seating against the central portion 19 of the upper casing section 12. As seen in Figure 2, the base 21 is provided with a vent passage 25 one end of which opens outwardly thereof into the suction 8 and the opposite end of which opens into a sleeve 15.

To connect the grinding tool shaft or stem 6 to the valve head 26, the annular face 23 of the suction cup 8 is placed against the outer face 27 of the valve head and in substantially a centered position. The tool 5 is then thrust toward the valve head 26 causing the suction cup 8 to partially collapse and spread to its dotted line position of Figure 2, but to no greater extent than as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, since when the suction cup 8 is thus spread and partially collapsed the pad 22 will have been displaced downwardly against the valve head surface 27. This will also result in a partial collapsing of the casing 11 and a constriction of the chamber 14. Air from the chamber 14 will escape through the vent passage 25 thence between the valve surface 27 and a part of the cup face 23. A greater downward pressure on the shaft or stem 6 will not result in a further collapsing of the cup 8 but rather will result merely in a further collapsing of the casing 12 with additional escape of air to the atmosphere as previously described. Likewise, this additional downward pressure will produce a further compressing of the spring 24 so that the pad 22 will be held with greater pressure against the valve surface 27. Thus, any necessary amount of pressure may be exerted by the tool 5 to effect the grinding operation and the greater the pressure which is applied by the tool against the valve head, the greater will be the gripping engagement of the coupler 7 with the head. Likewise, the cup 8 will be maintained collapsed only to a proper extent to obtain its maximum suction, and the suction thereof will be increased by the partial collapsing of the casing 11 and the vacuum created by the constricted chamber 14, whenever the pressure of the tool against the valve is diminished. The tool stem or shaft 6 may be of any length and may be rotated or oscillated in any conventional manner.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be obviously resorted to, without departing from the function or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A valve grinding tool coupler comprising a suction cup adapted to seat against a valve head to be ground, a rigid base member disposed in the central portion of said suction cup and bearing against an inner surface thereof and adapted to be displaced thereby into contact with the valve head by a partial collapsing of the suction cup to limit the extent that the suction cup may be collapsed, said suction cup constituting one end of the coupler, a socket forming the opposite end of said coupler and opening in a direction away from the suction cup and adapted to non-turnably receive an end of a turnably driven shaft, said coupler including a yieldable portion disposed between the suction cup and socket, and spring means interposed between said base member and a closed inner end of said socket and extending through said yieldable coupler portion, said spring means and yieldable coupler portion being compressed by a thrust exerted on the socket toward said suction cup for transmitting the thrust to said base for forcing the base tightly against the valve head and a pad secured to the underside of said base and adapted to frictionall grip the valve head when the suction cup is partially collapsed into gripping engagement with the valve head around said base and pad.

2. In a valve grinding tool, a coupler comprising a suction cup constituting one end thereof and adapted to be secured by suction to a valve head, a socket constituting the opposite end of said coupler and opening away from the suction cup and adapted to non-turnably receive an end of a turnably driven shaft, a collapsible casing forming a part of said coupler and disposed between said socket and suction cup, said casing defining a chamber, and a hollow neck connecting said casing and suction cup and constituting a connecting passage between said charn her and the interior of the suction cup, said chamber opening only into said passage, said suction cup, casing and neck being formed of a material impervious to air, and said suction cup and casing being formed of a resilient material whereby when the suction cup is in engagement with the valve head and a compressive force is exerted in a direction endwise of the coupler from said socket, said casing will be partially collapsed to absorb a part of the thrust and thereby reduce the extent of collapsing of the suction cup.

3. in a coupler as in claim 2, a base member disposed in a central portion of the suction cup, and an expansion coiled spring extending through said neck and chamber having one end bearing against the base member and an opposite end bearing against a wall of the casing disposed remote from said neck, said base member forming spacing means to limit the collapsing movement of said suction cup by displacement into engagement with the valve head as the suction cup is collapsed, whereby an additional thrust exerted through said coupler from the socket will cause a further collapsing of the casing and a compressing of the spring for forcing the base member into tight engagement with the valve head.

4. In a coupler as in claim 3, said base member having a friction pad secured to an underside thereof for frictional engagement with the valve head when the suction cup is collapsed.

5. In a coupler as in claim 4, a sleeve member fixed to said base member and extending therefrom into the hollow neck and in which a portion of said spring is loosely disposed, and said base member having a vent passage connecting with the sleeve and suction cup for venting said chamber to the atmosphere.

6. A valve grinding tool coupler comprising a suction cup adapted to seat against a valve head to be ground, a rigid base member disposed in the central portion of said suction cup and bearing against an inner surface thereof and adapted to be displaced into contact with the valve head by partial collapsing of the suction cup to limit the extent that the suction cup may be collapsed, means forming the opposite end of said coupler adapted to be non-turnably connected to an end of a turnably driven shaft, a collapsible casing forming a part of said coupler and disposed between said means and the suction cup and spaced from the suction cup, said casing being formed of a resilient material impervious to air and defining a chamber, said coupler including a portion disposed between said chamber and suction cup and provided with a passage connecting the suction cup and chamber, said chamber opening only into said passage, said casing being partially collapsed by a thrust exerted against said means toward the suction cup to partially absorb the thrust and reduce the extent of collapsing of the suction cup.

7. A valve grinding tool coupler comprising a suction cup adapted to seat against a valve head to be ground, a rigid base member disposed in the central portion of said suction cup and bearing against an inner surface thereof and adapted to be displaced thereby into contact with the valve head by a partial collapsing of the suction cup to limit the extent that the suction cup may be collapsed, said suction cup constituting one end of the coupler, means forming the opposite end of said coupler adapted to non-turnably engage an end of a turnably driven shaft, said coupler including a yieldable portion disposed between the suction cup and said means, and spring means interposed between said base member and said first mentioned means and extending through said yieldable coupler portion, said spring means being compressed by a thrust exerted on the first mentioned means toward said suction cup for transmitting the thrust to said base for forcing the base tightly against the valve head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,918,743 Etzenhouser et al July 18, 1933 1,959,838 Olsen May 22, 1934 1,971,530 Kulp et al Aug. 28, 1934 2,195,830 Schubring Apr. 2, 1940 2,373,282 Aust Apr. 10, 1945 

